After fleeing into The Devil's Kiln to escape death at the hands of those that he and his cohorts had unsuccessfully laid siege, Holk, a veteran warrior of many campaigns stumbles into a subterranean world from which there appears no escape. He discovers a network of caverns, lakes, and fungal expanses; each area isolated from the others. The only avenue from one to the next lies through a series of portals.

Within this world he meets a mysterious being known only as The Merchant; a dragon; and a small human boy-child that has no interest in freeing this prison, for prison is what Holk believes it to be.

Holk is alone and woefully lacking in resources. What aid he acquires comes from an unlikely source: a long-dead scribe.